ExtraSchicht – Night of Industrial Culture in the Ruhr metropolis

A night of superlative culture that combines the region’s industrial cultural highlights

|June| Experience a night of cultural superlatives: 500 events at about 50 venues in 20 different cities turn the Ruhr Area into a unique cultural metropolis

Once a year, a very special cultural event puts on a great show in the Ruhr Area that always turns heads: the area is transformed into a Ruhr metropolis with no city limits and the individual features of the former industrial region come together to form a larger whole. ExtraSchicht - Night of Industrial Culture brings together the region’s industrial heritage sites all in one night and allows visitors to experience a wide spectrum of culture unlike anything else.

After all, the ExtraSchicht is a festival of superlatives: in just one night, over 500 different events are held at more than 45 venues at 20 different sites in the Ruhr Area. Over 2,000 artists are involved, providing visitors with a most diverse range of cultural experiences in spectacular settings of industrial heritage. Visitors are free to choose from among the seemingly endless choices on offer. Want to look at street art? Take in the symphony? Experience improvisational theatre? Or would you prefer to dance the night away at the headphone party?

The great thing about ExtraSchicht is that there’s absolutely no reason for you to have to choose between all of these things. The unique concept of the Night of Industrial Heritage allows for easy travel between the different venues. A mobility system designed especially for ExtraSchicht brings visitors to their choice of events. Normal transport services are bolstered with 150 shuttle buses. In addition, those attending ExtraSchicht benefit from the use of trams, historical trains and canal boats from 6:00pm to 2:00am, and are, of course, welcome to travel by foot or bicycle. The festival ticket is also valid as a ticket for all modes of transport.

The industrial heritage backdrops of the different venues are the true stars of ExtraSchicht. Since its inception in 2001, ExtraSchicht has aimed to draw the magic of concentrated industrial culture out of former industrial work sites and to make these fascinating industrial sites accessible to a wide audience. The entire Ruhr Area region now uses the facilities and land of former industrial sites in many different ways and breathes creativity, light and colour into the atmospheric venues.

ExtraSchicht has often served as an icebreaker in this area in the past: it enabled spectators to gain access to former industrial sites for the first time, thus providing an impetus for future cultural use. Because of this, new venues are added to ExtraSchicht’s programme every year. In addition to old favourites such as the Gasometer Oberhausen, the Zollern Colliery in Dortmund or the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen, places like Bergpark Lohberg in Dinslaken or the Fördermaschinengebäude Schacht IV, a hauling engine building in Moers, now enhance the Night of Industrial Culture.

As such, ExtraSchicht combines many anchor points along the Industrial Heritage Trail, which links all of the Ruhr Area’s industrial heritage attractions along the 400-kilometre trail, bringing them together in one unique summer cultural festival that reflects the diversity of the Ruhr metropolis.